Doncaster Knights vs Cornish Pirates – Match Report

Disappointment for the Pirates

By Phil Westren

Doncaster Knights 44 – Cornish Pirates 12

Delighted to get a much-wanted 45-24 win under their belts against Ampthill at Camborne the previous weekend, on the last Saturday in January there was inevitable disappointment for the Cornish Pirates in suffering this defeat.

An eleventh versus eighth affair in Round 15 of the ‘Champ’, the Pirates were looking to maintain a level of progress with a team that showed just a single change in the starting XV from the one that ran out against Ampthill. Lock Charlie ‘Buster’ Rice was injured in that contest, so Milo Hallam was selected to partner Josh King in the second row.

On the bench there were four changes. Morgan Nelson was named as replacement hooker, whilst prop James French and Aussie duo Rory Suttor and Luke Ratcliff were keen to return to the fray.

With the scene set at Castle Park, after Doncaster’s scrum half Alex Dolly led the Knights out on what was his 100^th appearance, it was the Pirates who then got off to a perfect start all but immediately after referee Ian Tempest sounded his whistle to get things underway. Indeed, quick out of the blocks wing Arthur Relton gathered possession out on the right and passed to supporting lock Josh King who scored with just 12 seconds on the clock, Fly-half Arwel Robson then followed with a fine conversion.

For home supporters still finding their seats, they must have wondered what happened, though their team soon responded with a try scored at the changing rooms end by wing Zach Kerr. Fly-half Russell Bennett was luckless with his conversion attempt but not with a penalty strike soon after that gave the Yorkshire side the lead. At the same time the Cornish Pirates lost Relton to the sin bin for ten minutes.

The Knights were seeking to gain general dominance, and after Kerr once again took possession menacingly, he passed the ball on to Joe Margetts. Creating space and showing a clean pair of heels, the powerful centre’s unconverted try made it 13-7, which is how it stayed to the break.

Former Tongan international Telua Veainu, making light of his 35 years, was constantly a threat, so it was no surprise when he was involved in helping set up his team’s third try, a second of the match for Kerr which was converted by Bennett.

A bonus point providing and converted fourth try was scored by Margetts after he won a high ball clash and ran thirty metres to the posts, and although there were occasional sparks of play from the Pirates, including by wing Matty Ward, number 8 Tomi Agbongbon, replacement hooker Morgan Nelson, skipper Alex Everett, and a break out run by Milo Hallam, there was just too little to lift morale.

Margetts next completed his hat-trick with a converted score after Bennett took a pass and ran from near his own line, and finally it was two tries scored by Donny’s skipper and hooker Fred Davies that completed his team’s points scoring.

The Pirates did fight to the last, and creating late pressure were rewarded with a last-minute try scored out wide by Relton. It was a case of making it over the line in the first minute, and eventually again in the last, but with it proving very difficult in between.

Commenting at the end of the game, Cornish Pirates’ joint head coach Gavin Cattle said:

“Firstly, I’d like to give credit to a good and well-motivated Doncaster team. I thought their collision was excellent and, overall, we were second best.

“Our start was good but it’s about more than one moment. I felt we could have moved the point of contact a bit better.

“Looking at them, they certainly picked up their line speed, as in recent weeks they have been nowhere near that. You can see there was an emotional response from them today so again credit to them.

“The aerial kick battle didn’t go our way, but they have a special back three and it’s about the skill level and getting the right timing. We also played a lot of phases in the first half, but we couldn’t break them down.

“They competed well in the line-out and looking at their team on paper we know they are a quality outfit. The first half was quite tight, and they were probably a little disappointed not to arrive at the interval with a few more points on the board. In the second half we hoped to tip that momentum, but on the day it just didn’t happen.

“Looking forward we just need to get better. We haven’t got a big squad, but I think we are working in the right areas and it’s about getting this group to the next level, which is part of the development process.”

Doncaster Knights:   15 Telusa Veainu 14 Ryan Olowofela 13 Joe Margetts 12 Connor Edwards 11 Zach Kerr 10 Russell Bennett 9 Alex Dolly; 1 Conor Davidson 2 Fred Davies (captain) 3 Joe Jones 4 Morgan Jones 5 Adam Hopkinson 6 East Timor Viliamu 7 Josh Bainbridge 8 Jasper McGuire.

Replacements (all used):   16 Ben Chapman 17 Douglas McGregor-Smith 18 Lugoviii Mulipola 19 Ehize Ehizode 20 Corey Tait 21 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti 22 Morgan Bunting 23 Aidan Cross.

Cornish Pirates:   15 Iwan Price-Thomas 14 Arthur Relton 13 Chester Ribbons 12 Joe Elderkin 11 Matty Ward 10 Arwel Robson 9 Dan Hiscocks; 1 Alessandro Heaney 2 Sol Moody 3 Alfie Petch 4 Milo Hallam 5 Josh King 6 Alex Everett (captain) 7 Jack Forsythe 8 Tomi Agbongbon.         Replacements (all used):   16 Morgan Nelson 17 Billy Young 18 James French 19 Rory Suttor 20 Luke Ratcliff 21 Will Rigelsford 22 Louie Sinclair 23 Ben Cambriani.

Yellow card:   Relton.

Scorers:

Doncaster Knights – tries: Margetts (3), Kerr (2), Davies (2); cons: Bennett (3); pen: Bennett.

Cornish Pirates – tries: King, Relton; con: Robson.

Referee:  Ian Tempest

Assistants:   Nikki O’Donnell & Greg Dawson

Attendance:   1819

📷Pirates' second-row forward Josh King who opened the game's scoring with a try after just 12 seconds. Photo credit Brian Tempest